September 22, 2007
Past Pleasures
Written by Cindy Kirk in Jaunty PostLast week while cleaning out my closets I came across some workshop tapes from the 1996 RWA conference (the first one I ever attended). I used to like to listen to tapes in the car, especially when I was driving an hour or two but had gotten out of the habit.
Well, I was going out of town for my day job so I took the tapes with me…and really enjoyed listening to them!! So far I’ve listened to: Plotting Part 1 and 2- Jolie Kramer. How to Take a Manuscript Apart and Put It Back Together-Revisions and Rejections- Barbara Keiler ; Analyzing the Synopsis: Inside an Editor’s Mind- Leslie Wainger; Weaving in subplots and Secondary Characters: Make Them Integral to Your Story- Kathleen Morgan; Texturing Your Novel- Kristin Hannah.
By the time I’d listened to all those wonderful presentations, I was hooked. I searched some more and found Through the Eyes of The Hero/Men Talk Different- Kylie Brent & Laurie Brown. Then, some career focused ones from RWA 2005: From Here to Eternity- Your Career Business Plan in Action- Cherry Adair and Marketing is Not a Four-letter Word- Blythe Gifford.
I learned something from all of them and I’m definitely in the mood to start listening to workshop tapes/CD’s again. What surprises me is that I ever quit listening.
Have you ever done that? Turned away from something that you once enjoyed only to pick it up again years later?
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Rainy Says:
Cindy, I’ve done that a few times. Probably not as often as I should. Sometimes you need refreshing. I’m just rereading Elizabeth Berg’s “Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True”
On the reverse side, sometimes the books or information in the past and thought absolutely wonderful, you now look at and say, “What was I thinking?”
Robyn DeHart Says:
Funny you should mention this, Cindy, as I’ve done the same recently. With the newer conferences doing the whole conference on CD, I haven’t been buying individual cassettes the way I used to. But I have quite the collection from years before. When I worked a day job, I commuted and this was my refuge from road rage. I’ve listened to a few of my favorites, Dennis Palumbo’s PAN keynote (before I was a PAN member, but it was available to everyone) and it’s just amazing. I also listened to April Kihlstrom’s Book in a Week as well as Susan Mallory’s Writing More, Writing Better. Among my favorites though are Theme, Premise and Moral by Pat Tracy and He Feels, She Feels by Shelly Thacker. Really good stuff. Nice to know I’m not the only one who loves to listen to workshops.
Jenna Petersen Says:
I don’t have a tape deck anymore, so I hardly ever listen to tapes. But those conference tapes/CDs are great, aren’t they? I always loved checking them out from my chapters when I couldn’t go to conference or picking up a workshop as a refresher course or something.
As for going back and enjoying something you liked to do earlier, I find that coloring is quite relaxing. El Guapo occasionally appears with a coloring book and crayons to sets me free. LOL
AndreaW Says:
I’ll sometimes pick out an older music CD (80s or 90s music) and it’ll bring back memories.
I feel you on the coloring books, Jenna! Sometimes, while coloring with my kids, they’ll say, “Mommy, it’s my turn now.” LOL
Shana Says:
I used to listen to books on tape all the time, but now my commute is like 10 minutes, so I don’t really have an opportunity. I miss it.
ladydawgfan Says:
Odd story for me. In the early 90’s, I was seriously injured in an automobile accident. At the time of the accident, I was listening to Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata on cassette. At that time, it was my favorite music, so much so that I couldn’t go a day without listening to it at least once.
After the accident, I couldn’t listen to it at all. In fact, it was years before I even thought about pulling out the CD (the cassette was destroyed in the accident). But eventually I did. For some reason, while the music still was beautiful to me, it didn’t move me or hold the same magic as before. I’m not quite sure what the difference is.
Cindy Kirk Says:
It really is interesting to me how we can be so into something at one time and then go completely away from it….only to come back to it (or not) years later.
I’m like that with food, too. I eat something every day, then after a month or two, I get tired of it and quit eating it altogether for awhile. Crazy I know….
Blythe Gifford Says:
I’m so honored that you listened to my workshop and enjoyed it! Thanks for mentioning it.
I have a few RWA Conference tapes I will never let go. They include one by Susan Mallery on sagging middles that I’ve listened to countless times and a session on career planning with Steve Axelrod and Damaris Rowland. Still valuable today.